Govt warns schools against asking pupils to raise funds for classrooms

Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture executive director Sanet Steenkamp has warned schools against tasking pupils to collect money from members of the public.

This comes after Suiderhof Primary School pupils were sent home with forms soliciting funds to build classrooms.

A pupil, who spoke to The Namibian on condition of anonymity, says the school does not have the money to build the required classrooms.

“That is why we were told to look for money, so that we can use it to build our classrooms,” says the pupil.

According to Steenkamp, the school asking pupils to collect money is unacceptable.

“We don’t allow or tolerate that. The matter must be reported to our regional director of education.

It puts an additional burden on children while they must prepare for their upcoming exams.

It also puts a burden on parents and members of the public,” she says.

Steenkamp highlights that the ministry has so far spent more than N$1 billion to construct classrooms over the last two years.

“[A total of] 3.9% of the overall budget goes to infrastructure, and every region in Namibia receives education facility funding. We are constructing 502 classrooms for 2024, and last year we constructed 512, most of which are complete.

“We spent N$784 million in 2023 and N$338 million in 2024,” she says.